Hello all - - -In the records book of the Merion Meeting of the Society of Friends (Gwynedd, Plymouth & Upper Merion Twps., Montgomery Co., PA) there are references to Andris Souplis, from which I quote a couple of interesting statements, as follows: "Andrew was a Colonel in the French Army and a native of Alsace-Lorraine". "In 1682 he left France with 30 followers, escaped toward Germany, all but seven were killed before reaching the frontier." Andris is well documented in the New World (Germantown, PA), and we are now attempting to verify his European whereabouts. Time and place, etc. Can anyone give me a clue as to how I may go about proving just the two statements above? Thank you ! Dori

Hi Dori, From: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 3:03 PM > Hello all - - -In the records book of the Merion Meeting of the Society of > Friends (Gwynedd, Plymouth & Upper Merion Twps., Montgomery Co., PA) there are > references to Andris Souplis, from which I quote a couple of interesting > statements, as follows: > > "Andrew was a Colonel in the French Army and a native of Alsace-Lorraine". > > "In 1682 he left France with 30 followers, escaped toward Germany, all but > seven were killed before reaching the frontier." Are the above quotes from this site (or its source)? http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/chester/cemeteries/merion06.txt I have read many pages of minutes of the Monthly Meetings of Friends and have never seen anything like the kind of thing you quote above. Remember, these were business meetings. It appears to me that while the burial information may have come from the Friends records, the other "biographical" information is editorial comment. Here is another version of his alleged ancestry (scroll down to p. 49) http://www.geocities.com/lydick_1999/huguenot/huguenot.html That was published in 1901. This may be the source of the spurious Gertrude Stressinger. > Andris is well documented in the New World (Germantown, PA), and we are now > attempting to verify his European whereabouts. Time and place, etc. I recommend starting with what you know and trying to work back step by step. I think all we know about his origin is that his denization occured in New York on 17 Sept. 1685. I've forgotten when he shows up in Germantown, but I think it was not too long afterward. I have looked for him in NY around 1685, but have found nothing. Another clue is that his wife's name was shown as "Annecke" on the 1692 Frey-Levering marriage certificate. Anneke is a Dutch name. I think most would agree that Andris Souplis was French-speaking. Especially when you see later generations spelling the name Supplee. So, where would a French-speaking guy meet a Dutch woman before coming to NY? (Am I right that the estimated ages of their children would show they were married in Europe?) And from what port would a French-speaking guy and a Dutch woman most likely leave from to go to NY about 1685? I would look for them in The Netherlands before 1685. Start with Amsterdam. There are no passenger lists for this time period, but there are Notarial Records that might contain a mention of him and indicate he is about to go to the New World. This would probably require hiring a local researcher. Even better would be to search the Walloon or Leyden Index, available from the LDS. This an index of Walloon, French Reformed, etc. church records in The Netherlands and some other places. With either of these approaches, what you hope for is a marriage record which show where he was born. > Can anyone give me a clue as to how I may go about proving just the > two statements above? I doubt they are true. If he really were a Col. in the French army, why would he be fleeing France and why would others with him be killed? I doubt there were Huguenots who were Colonels in the French army in 1685. :) And Andris sure appears to be a Huguenot (or Walloon). Regards, Howard [email protected]